Chapter 29
One day before Valentine's Day:
Everyone finished their preparations today or asked their crush out on a date. Or stayed alone if they wanted.
At the moment Albus was sitting in the library trying to study. That didn't happen often.
Before that he had been in the Owlery and had taken a letter from his mother. She had written to him today, but he hadn't found the time to open the letter yet.
His eyes darted over his Charms book, in his right hand he held his wand and kept turning it around with his fingers.
"Okay, I have to admit: That looks really hot," Scorpius' voice suddenly rang out and Albus' eyes shot up. "What?" Albus asked with interest.
Albus blushed when Scorpius nodded towards Albus' wand, which he turned around with his fingers.
- Albus hadn't quite realized at first that Scorpius was talking about him. -
Scorpius sat down next to him and his gaze flew to the book. He briefly frowned. "Do you need help?"
In response, Albus shook his head. "I think I can manage. Otherwise, I'll ask you." Scorpius nodded and was satisfied with Albus' answer. At first.
But shortly afterwards, Scorpius changed his mind and took the charms book in his hands. Albus frowned before sighing.
"What spell can you use to blow something up?" Scorpius asked and when Albus didn't answer immediately, a smile crept onto his face.
"Um,...Confringo!" Albus replied and breathed a sigh of relief when Scorpius nodded.
"Well done, love," Scorpius smiled and Albus' heart fluttered at the nickname. Albus' cheeks heated up a little and when Scorpius noticed, he leaned closer to Albus and gave him a kiss on the cheek, which made his blush even worse.
Scorpius grinned and Albus turned his head to look him in the eyes.
A gentle smile formed on Albus' face. He was so in love.
"Hogsmeade tomorrow? We can just have a cozy day in our dorm afterwards if you want too. But first a real date," Scorpius asked and Albus leaned his face closer to his. Just before their lips could meet, Albus stopped. "Sure, we can."
Scorpius then smiled against Albus' lips before they heard footsteps getting louder and separated, their hearts racing.
Better safe than sorry.
Albus recognized the wild head of hair immediately and took a breath. Rose had three books in her arms and her eyes flew to Albus and Scorpius before she frowned and moved towards them.
There she dropped her books on the table.
Then her eyes wandered from Albus to the chair next to her and back to Albus. Albus then nodded silently.
Rose tucked her hair behind her ear and her eyes flew back and forth around the room for a moment. She sighed and began to tap her fingers on her hand.
"I liked Ginny's idea. I have to admit that. I think something like that wouldn't do any harm. Especially because of Harry, it would be good if something like that happened more often," Rose blurted out and narrowed her eyes. "You think so too, don't you, Albus?"
Albus shrugged and Scorpius leaned back, crossing his arms.
"All I know is that our family's opinions aren't that easy to change. And to be honest, I doubt that the idea was really that good. I think that was a bit early."
After Albus' explanation, Rose nodded slowly. She kind of understood, but she still had doubts about Scorpius. She couldn't just push those doubts aside. It just didn't work that way.
"What do you have to learn?" asked Rose and Albus's gaze flew to his book, which was lying untouched on the table. "Um, Charms. And you?"
Rose's gaze also flew to her book, which she had carelessly thrown onto the table. "I'm studying for Potions."
Her gaze flew briefly to Scorpius and she looked into his eyes for a moment before quickly averting her gaze again.
-
The group of three had studied together for two hours in complete silence before Albus and Scorpius decided they had had enough and wanted to leave.
So they ended up in the dark corridors. It was only evening, but that was enough to create a dark and cold atmosphere.
"Okay, um, thank you for studying together. See you," Rose said quickly, before taking a different path than Albus and Scorpius.
"Do your grandparents know that we're friends? You never mentioned it." Albus asked as he and Scorpius continued walking down the corridors.
Scorpius scratched the back of his head. "Yeah, they found out when I defended you from Avery and I hit him. My grandma didn't say anything about it, but my grandpa makes me feel like he's angry about it."
That set off alarm bells for Albus immediately. "What? What do you mean he makes you feel that?" Albus' heart was racing and he couldn't think clearly anymore because of his worry.
Scorpius took a deep breath next to him. "He once tried to use the Cruciatus Curse on me. That was right after the argument with Avery, but my dad immediately freaked out and I dare say that I've never seen him so angry at my grandpa. But my grandpa immediately regretted it afterwards and apologized like a thousand times - he said at the time that he couldn't think properly and was just so disappointed, angry and confused because the Potters are our enemies and that I had betrayed our family."
When Scorpius had finished explaining, Albus immediately pulled him into his arms. Scorpius melted into the hug.
"No matter how angry he is with you, he has no right to torture you. Never."
Albus could feel Scorpius nodding and hugging him tighter.
"He didn't do it, did he?"
"No, he didn't."
A person cleared his throat near them and the two immediately moved away from each other.
Draco Malfoy and Narcissa Malfoy were standing right there.
Albus gestured with his arms towards the corridors. "Um, I think I should go. I-"
"No, you can stay," Narcissa interrupted him and looked at him more closely, her gaze softening a little as she thought back to Albus and Scorpius's hug.
In response, Albus just nodded and his gaze flew to Draco Malfoy, who was standing a little more sternly than Narcissa. Draco folded his hands and swallowed his lump.
"Lucius is being hunted by the Ministry of Magic and has therefore disappeared. We don't know where, but if you see him anywhere, Scorpius, then let us know immediately," Draco explained and Scorpius nodded immediately. "Yeah, sure."
"Okay, um, that was it actually. Draco just wanted to say it in person instead of explaining it in a letter," Narcissa's voice rang out and Draco glanced at his mother. "Seriously?"
"That's right. I said you should write a letter but you wanted to go to Hogswarts in person."
♡
VALENTINE'S DAY
Hogsmeade was well filled and there was really a lot going on. Scorpius had Albus' hand clasped in his and Albus' heart was still fluttering because of it, even though he had been holding it for 10 minutes.
It was busy, but they were still able to get through. At first they just wandered around Hogsmeade and looked at the shops before they made their way to the Three Broomsticks.
It was afternoon, but to make the atmosphere a little more romantic, Rosmerta had darkened the whole shop inside and put out candles.
Albus and Scorpius were engaged in a conversation and didn't notice that Rosmerta was watching them both. A smile crept across her face before she looked away and turned to other customers and gave them her attention.
Albus' left hand was on the table and when Scorpius finally noticed this, he placed his right hand on Albus' left hand.
Scorpius kept gently running his fingers along Albus' arm. Albus told him about the conversation with Lily, which was about Valentine's Day.
After spending an hour and a half at the Three Broomsticks, they wanted to go back to Hogwarts.
Scorpius looked around for a moment before pulling Albus into an empty alley.
Albus fell lightly against Scorpius and Scorpius wrapped his arms around him. Albus' hands were on Scorpius' shoulders.
"I love you." came from Scorpius' mouth and he brought his face closer.
Albus' heart fluttered for a moment. "I love you too." He put his lips on Scorpius' and they both began to move their lips tenderly.
Albus wrapped his arms around Scorpius' neck and tilted his head slightly to kiss him from a better angle.
Their kiss lasted a very, very long time. Breathless, they leaned their foreheads against each other.
Both immediately turned their heads to the right when they heard noises. There were voices getting louder, talking at the same time. But they were definitely not students. Albus and Scorpius were sure of that.
Scorpius tightened his grip on Albus and pulled them both into the small corner that was covered with more shadows than the rest of the alley.
Scorpius leaned against the wall and pulled Albus as close to him as he could.
Both hoped at that moment that whoever these people were would not discover them.
"Lucius, you should pay more attention. The Ministry of Magic has its eyes everywhere." a dark voice called out and this person was now in the alley. They actually wanted to keep going, but then stopped when they noticed that no one was following them.
Albus and Scorpius held their breath when they heard the name "Lucius". This could only be a bad joke.
"I know. But let them try to take me to Azkaban! I'm stronger than most of them anyway. I don't care." Now Lucius had also stepped into the alley.
"Why doesn't your family hide you?"
"Because I don't trust them anymore. My grandson is good with a Potter. And my wife doesn't want to talk to me about it. So I'll take care of the people who are looking for me first."
"And then we'll get instructions from the Dark Lord."
What?